Boktai Review: Fools and Stupids See the Light

Since last November when I started the Critical-Gaming blog, I've critiqued other reviews, developed a body of language to communicate the intricate inter workings video games, and written a few reviews to demonstrate.

Now that the foundation has been set, I can exercise a bit more creative writing liberty. After all, creative writing is my specialty. Using this new style, each review will be focused in a way that communicates the various elements of design along with my personal experience/thoughts of the game. Here's the catch. The style and themes that I choose to structure the review will also reflect the mechanics, functions, ideas, and/or themes of the game in some way. Sound intense? Don't worry. Just sit back and read carefully and lightly. If you're lost, by the end I'm sure you'll come out of the darkness.

Fools and Stupids See the Light

STORY

It wasn't until about the end of the game when I realized what was going on. Boktai is a game that's shrouded in twisted mystery. I remember beginning my adventure on Earth, yet for the past few hours, I've been in running around aboard a mauve space station silently orbiting my home. I recalled how quickly and unknowingly I made the jump from my simple, home grown, earthly ambitions to lifelessly floating out in space just going through the motions fighting any manner of man, beast, or undead that I can shove into a coffin, pile up, and drive to victory. The funny part of it all isn't how my evil twin brother who descends from a source that's not exactly my mother has been stringing me along "using" me to defeat his enemies so he can free him self from the Moon Queen's control only to later join my side in defeating her. The funny part is, I saw it all coming.

Kojima isn't much of a story teller. By ignoring one of the most effective tenets of written story telling "show don't tell" and relying on unnatural dialog to communicate the overly complex, muddled mush of a story line to the player, Kojima has casted yet another opportunity for a true spark of ingenuity into the forever depths of obscurity and the forgotten.

PUZZLES

In the grand scheme of Boktai puzzles, there are only a handful that cleverly utilize the manipulation of light and shade as the pivotal element. There may be even less that use the real time clock creatively. When playing such puzzles, I held a glimmer of hope for the rest of the game. If half the puzzles in Boktai used light and time instead of just the few, I would have more glowing remarks to give. Unfortunately, most of the puzzles are rustic push block/switch puzzles. As annoying as these puzzles are, there are a few that have nothing to do with the world of Boktai at all.

Like a nightmare, imagine stepping into a room only to have the door slam shut behind you. Though not a word is uttered, you can't help but think that you're in a "trap." In front of you is a math problem the likes of which you haven't seen in many years. Numbers, different operators, and equal signs are strewn about set up in such a way that beckons your assistance. All of a sudden, you're in school again trying to finishing a math test. Your heart sinks. You were just enjoying recess and now you're stuck with a math problem you can't solve. When you go up to the teacher for assistnace she subtly hints that you're looking at the problem wrong. And after a few more tries fiddling with it, you ask again. This time, you're told you're "stupid." This is what some of the puzzles in Boktai are like right down to being called stupid.

Perhaps what's worse of all about the puzzle design is, unlike Zelda/Mario/Metroid/Pokemon and just about any game that takes its design seriously, you can easily trap yourself trying to solve a puzzle in Boktai. Not to worry. Since the beginning of the game, players are supplied with a "Fool's card" that resets any room that a player may be stuck in. This deconstructive little card not only breaks the organic flow of the game, but the function of the card doubles as a "get out of jail (danger) free card." Instead of designing a tighter game, Konami took the easy way out.

THE MENU

It wouldn't be a Kojima game if there wasn't a heavy use of the game menu that borders on abuse. The menu in Boktai is used to customize the solar gun, examine the map, or use an item. With every use of the menu, the game is paused putting abrupt breaks in the flow of the gameplay. If you're about to die, just hit pause and gobble down as much life/solar energy restoring fruit as you want. With so many healing items and such an effective healing method, the gameplay can easily deconstruct into repeated reckless attacks and menu based healing. Such a strategy is functionally analogous to the attack-attack-heal strategy in many RPGs. Needless to say, by attack-attack-healing, the gameplay doesn't become more engaging. In fact, the menu system in Boktai is reductive and seeks to deconstruct the core design. The silver lining with all of this menu abuse is it's all optional.

ACTION COMBAT

MOVE. SHOOT. FLATTEN. TAP. Boktai contains all the mechanics of an stealth/shooting game. Fortunately, it does a few things correctly. Not being able to move and shoot focuses the action so that it can exist in a smaller space, which is ideal for the GBA screen size. Also, players can only fire in 8 directions, which requires more careful aim when hitting far away targets. The long range shots are the least effective at killing while the close range spread deals the most damage. Having to move in close to enemies to effectively kill them in a shooting game increases the tension of combat. When all of these design elements come together, the combat reminded me of fighting in a top down Zelda game like A Link to the Past.

Botkai was hatched from Kojima's mind and brought to life under his heated gaze. In true Metal Gear fashion, players don't have to kill any of the enemies. From the game's outset, I was cautioned against "unnecessary killing." By TAPing to creating distractions, FLATTENing to silence my footsteps and to squeeze around enemies, and by SHOOTing my foes in the back I had all the abilities I needed to stun and stealth my way through the game without taking a life. The problem is, this isn't Metal Gear, and I'm not pitted against other humans. I'm fighting the undead, which puts the whole "killing" concept in a dimly lit gray area. It also doesn’t help that most of the enemies in the game are "immortals" that regenerate after being "killed."

I realized at some point, that stealthing around isn't engaging enough to hold my attention for the duration of the game. When trying to play "Kojima's way," I have to do a lot of searching the area using the LOOK mechanic, a lot of waiting for enemies to turn their backs, a lot of wall TAPing to create distractions, and a lot of avoiding engagement. Doing this opens of the game to redundancy and static space. It would be different using such stealth tactics was the best way avoid taking damage, to conserve solar energy, or even to access special areas. But, the way Boktai is designed, conserving recourses isn't vital because there's no problem a few items can't fix, and there are no areas that require stealth to access. In the end, using stealth is simply the slow way to play Boktai.

LEVEL DESIGN

The overworld in Boktai must be some kind of joke or failed attempt at a Zelda like overworld. Not only is there nothing to do of consequence on the overworld except walk in an almost straight line to the next dungeon or mini dungeon, but the different areas are abruptly patched together like a quilt instead of organically blending form one to another. One moment, I'm standing in a graveyard. The next step, I'm in a forest.

What's worse is the whole game is designed as if it has been cut out of a mold using a large isometric chisel. Though the blocky look and feel works for some of the buildings, the style all becomes stale in how it limits how the player's possible paths through the level and how forced and inorganic it feels. Without strong organic themes and ideas to govern the construction of each level, every room feels artificial and disconnected from each other. Even in the fire dungeon where the player manipulates switches to raise and lower the magma level much in the same way link does in the various Zelda water temples/dungeons, it is not apparent how the magma changes with each adjustment. Instead of trying thinking about each room as a part of a whole, I stuck to a simple strategy. Just keep going forward and don't get distracted. The game is linear even when it doesn't look like it.

There is only one aspect of Boktai's level design that is worthy of accolades: The folded and refolded level design. In each of the game's main dungeons, players delve deeper into each location overcoming obstacles, enemies, and traps to reach the boss. Players then Battle the boss (the crease). While dragging the boss inside his/her coffin back through the level, the player is mindful of the factors: the coffin randomly shaking itself free from your grip, slower character movement, the ability to use the coffin as a weight for switches, and how enemies will notice the coffin and help it escape. Once players take the coffin back to the beginning of the level another battle with the boss takes place in a special ritual. The sequence up to this point completes the folded design.

As an interesting addition, if during the course of the ritual the boss breaks free and escapes, it'll make its way back through the dungeon forcing players to scramble back through the level to recapture it and continue the process. This feature creates the possible refolds.

Over all, the folded design in Boktai is very unique and well executed. There are just a few things that I did not like about it. Unfortunately, as the coffins inch their way to freedom, once they slip through a door way, their position becomes difficult to track. Even if you pursue a runaway coffin right as it moves through a door, on the other side, the coffin is no where to be found. In fact, the coffin somehow manages to move through several rooms in the blink of an eye. It's too bad that the game couldn't design this feature more organically using the game's established rules and mechanics.

ENEMY DESIGN

The enemies in Boktai are creative each filling a specific and unique design space. Crows fly around and swoop in to pester the player. Spiders bunch up, spin sticky web traps, and spit. Gouls patrol around and launch attacks on the player. Golems are powerful stone creatures that roll after the player at high speeds. And the list goes on. What I found to be the most interesting part of the enemy design in Boktai, is the interplay that exists between the player and the enemies. By manipulating the environment, the player can turn enemy attacks against themselves. The fast rolling Golem in pursuit of the player will smash and kill any Goul in its path. The Kraken can be tricked into using its tentacle to snatched up another enemy instead. Mummies, when set on fire, can set other mummies on fire as they run around frantically. It's this kind of attention to detail that I feel is too obscure in Kojima's other games, but perfectly tuned in Boktai.

THE GIMMICK

So what is this game? From the look of things, Boktai is a game with a poor, convoluted story, lack luster puzzles, and undynamic mechanics with a level design that is composed of parts that are either hit or miss. If this accurately described the game I would have put it away long ago never to have finished. Fortunately, the best part of Boktai, the part the goes beyond the folded level design and the Classically correct enemy design, is the game's primary function: the sun that is in my hand.

I saved the best for last because it's important to understand how much influence a unique and well integrated primary mechanic is to a game as a whole. If you don't know already, Boktai is a GBA game that has a solar sensor built into the cartridge. Artificial light won't do the trick. In order to get the full Boktai experience, sunlight is required.

Because Boktai is a GBA game, the entire gaming experience is automatically portable. Play it inside, outside, and everywhere in between. Do whatever it takes so that the sun can power up the game. To use the sunlight players have to adjust the angle of the handheld so that the suns light hits the sensor directly. When battling the forces of darkness every photon of light counts. In my experience with the game, because I frequently moved from location to location, manipulating the angle of my DS to catch the sunlight turned my handheld into a 3D gaming controller that respond to real world conditions in 3D space. Using the handheld in this way is something that I've seen in few places.

To power the Gun De Sol, the main defensive and offesive weapon, players can absorb the light of day. Though the game provides many ways to obtain this solar energy in the absense of real sunlight, this section is focused on how the primary mechanic USE SUNLIGHT is used throughout the game. When the player is in an outdoor environement in the game world, the game world transmits the sunlight hitting the sensor so players are free to absorb and use the light infinitly. As we all know, vampires and the undead detest sunlgiht. So in Boktai, all of the bosses and enemies dwell in buildings or areas where the sunlight is blocked. Players must charge their solar batteries outside of these locations and conserse it once inside.

Depending on whether sunlight is shining on the solar sensor, invisible paths become visible, light shines through windows, solar winds increase, and specific areas will be illuminated. The environmental conditions also change depending on the time of day according to the game's internal clock. At sun down when real sunlight isn't available, hidden crystal like "solar bamboo shoots" twinkle in the moon light.

Even this core sunlight driven mechanic isn't without balance. To appreciate light, one must experience darkness or, in this case, shade. Playing out in the sunlight for too long will cause the Gun De Sol to begin to overheat. To remedy the situation, players must find some shade to play in. If the gun fully overheats, it won't be availablefor use until the next sun rise (also according to the internal clock). This feature tops the dynamic decay system of Boktai's solar gameplay.

In the outdoor environments in the game world, players are free to use their solar energy and refill their supplies infinitely as long as they're playing in sunlight. Generally, to progress through the game players must encounter the undead enemies in covered/indoor areas. Once out of the sunlight in the game world, players must conserve their energy as every shot drains their supply. This completes the first organic cycle between sunlight, the environment, and ammunition. And the player moves through different game environments, the solar ammo will decay with use and be refilled according to the location.

Regardless of what's happening in the game world, if the game is exposed to the sun for too long the gun will overheat. This decay cycle is partially independent of the first cycle. And when the sun sets in real life, both decay cycles are replaced with another organic decay cycle that resets with the dawn of the next day. In the end, no matter how you play Boktai, you're always a part of some kind of organic decay cycle that revolves around the sun. This means even when you're not playing you're still playing in a way.

Several reviewers criticized Boktai's dependence on real sunlight despite all the solar energy alternatives provided in the game. Complacent in how they play videogames, such reviewers thought it was inappropriate that they couldn't play Boktai any way they wanted and at any time. This is precisely why I enjoyed Boktai as much as I did. From gradually losing daylight and offensive power, to coordinating my attacks with cloud cover, to rainy day steak outs, I had to seize the day whenever I got the chance. Similar to how WiiFit raises awareness of one's physical body, playing Boktai made me more aware of the day and sunlight. In the age we live in, artificial light is everywhere. Having to work around less predictable and convenient light source made me tune into nature or at least it reminded me of how dependant and powerless life is without the sun.

And on top of all this, playing in real sunlight or in the shade is an organic way for players to control their own difficulty. During the day, I could harness the limitless power of the sun. By nightfall I had a choice to make. I could either turn the game off and wait until tomorrow to play, or I could tough it out with an ever draining supply of energy in my battery reserves.

CONCLUSION

If you don't fully embrace the light, then there's no point in playing Boktai. It's all about the solar sensor. When nearly every other element of the game is average or below average, the interaction with the sun highlights the game's more positive design elements well. Though the majority of the game leaves much to be desired, at least the sun is there with you the whole way. It's too bad some reviewers couldn't see the truth. It's also too bad that Konami didn't either. All the items, most of the puzzles, many of the dungeons, and most of the story could be completely thrown away to leave a purer, better designed product. It's a little pretentious of the developers to call me "stupid" for not wanting to solve yet another one of their dull push block puzzles, or calling me a "fool" for trapping myself inside of one of their poorly designed puzzles. If only Kojima knew what potential he had in his hands, he might have made a cleaner game.

In the end, all I wanted to do was hold the "sun in my hand," and I got a chance to with this extremely unique game. It's too bad I had to wade through some redundant mediocrity to get there. At least thinking back on the whole experience, my memories are bright.

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Updated Critical-Glossary

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Critical-Glossary

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Alphabetical

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abstract mechanic

Some gameplay mechanics are completely artificial, meaning they do not make logical sense based on the form of the game. When such mechanics are privileged within a game's design, we tend to label these games as being "arcade" like. I describe these gameplay mechanics as being abstract.

It is a design innovation that applies to games that are played in real time. By taking the progression of real time and breaking it down in specific contextual ways, a new level of game design can be reached. This is the essence of asynchronous time, or async.

In music, Counterpoint is the writing of musical lines that sound different on their own, but harmonize when played together. How the melody of a song interacts with the other lines is the focus of Counterpoint.

Counterpoint, in gaming, is a word for the way gameplay develops past optimization by layering interactive elements into a single gameplay experience. When each layer influcences, interacts, and enhances the functions/gameplay of each other layer the gameplay emerges into a medium of expression that reflects the individuality of a player and the dynamics that reflect the complexity of the world we live in.

A measure of how the changes in the method of input are paralleled with the action in the game according to the form of the mechanic. If you quickly press the green button on your controller, does the game quickly press the button on the screen? If you hold the button on your controller, is the button on the screen held down as well?

An measure of how the game world responds to the action. According to the form of the game world and the mechanic, does the world react realistically? What is the extent of the properties of the mechanic? Are the reactions to the mechanic special cases or can the resulting actions continue to effect the game world?

Like Marxist criticism, the most successful Feminist critique of a game involves analyzing how the range of player functions that affect female characters directly or indirectly reveal the operations of patriarchy. When the player is encouraged or forced to play in a way that depicts men as strong, rational, protective and women as weak, emotional, submissive, and nurturing, then the game can be said to support and reinforce patriarchal genders roles and ideologies. Patriarchal values work to oppress women, and all feminist theory and criticism works to promote women‘s equality. A Feminist analysis can become more complex when finding examples of actions toward women if a game doesn’t feature any women or the game allows for limited interaction with women. Writing essays about such games often leads to finding evidence by absence. In other words, a Feminist critic’s central piece of evidence may be what can’t be done to women instead of what can.

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flow

How a game accelerates or creates forward momentum. This factor of gameplay isn't necessarily about speed. More specifically, it looks at how a game's interactions feed back into the player's options/experience like a snowball rolling down hill.

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folded level design

Level design that resuses a space with the second use containing an extra layer to the gameplay that builds on the knowledge and experiences established on the first layer.

Form fits function is a powerful game design principle that has powered many of Nintendo's greatest games. Using familiar visuals, games can use their form to communicate to the player. If there is a ball resting on a tee and the player avatar has a golf club in their hands, they better be able to swing the club and hit the ball. Otherwise, why put such things in front of the player in the first place? Keeping the form true to the functions and limits of a game creates the cleanest most easily enjoyable experiences.

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function creates form

When a game's mechanics inspire, shape, and define the creation of ancillary parts of a game. ie. story, setting, premise, characters, music, audio

Interplay is the back and forth encouragement of player mechanics between any two elements in a game. Put simply, interplay is where actions and elements in a game aren't means to an end, but fluid opportunities that invite the player to play around with the changing situation.

A measure of the degree to which input method matches the form of the game. If there's a green button on the screen, and a green button on your game controller, the form of the game is liked to the input of pressing the green button on the controller.

Like Psychoanalytic criticism, Marxist criticism can seemingly critique a game by looking solely at a its fiction. However, both of these critical modes, in relation to videogames, achieve a deeper, more profound level of analysis when the elements of interactivity between the game and player are taken into consideration. Many Marxist critics of literature believe that film, literature, art, music, and other forms of entertainment such as videogames are the primary bearers of cultural ideologies. While we’re being entertaining by these medias, our defenses are lowered making us all the more susceptible to ideological programming. A Marxist critic of videogames looks for how a game supports or condems capitalist, imperialist, or classist values. Perhaps the best and most obvious place to look toward in games is the role and function of money. Some games represent money with actual U.S. dollars or some other form of real world currency. Others use fictional currency from bell, to gil, to star bits, or even points. What the player can purchase, how these items or services function, and how the money circulates within the game world all become important areas of analysis.

"New Classical criticism focuses on identifying a game's primary function/action that sums up all of the player's actions, functions, and abilities into a single expression. This expression can be thought of as the interpretation of the game or what the gamer is actually doing when he/she plays. Sometimes the primary function can be encapsulated in a single word. For example, the primary function of the Super Mario platforming series is "jump". After the primary function is identified, the New Classical critic then looks at a game's formal elements to analyze how they promote the primary function. The formal elements include Sound, Music, Art style, Story, Graphics, level design, enemies, etc. Because the New Classical critic privileges interactivity over passivity (especially when focused into a limited number of rules and actions), such a critic is only concerned with how these elements shape the gameplay experience, and assumes that any formal element in a game is only meaningful when it supports the primary function and exists in a lower state of priority to that function. In other words, elements like story can't be more stressed and more important to a game than the gameplay. Even if a game is designed according to the conventions and assumptions of Western game design, it can still be critiqued in the Classical mode."

A type of multi-fold level design where the creases and layers are so flexible and/or dynamic that considering the possibilities within a single level are interconnected and complex. Considering the shape created from a multi-fold level is similar to observing an origami figure.

For those who aren’t careful, a Psychoanalytic critique of a game appears to only be concerned with the fiction of a game and the relationship of the characters. Unless the game is Psychonauts, most games seem to have little to nothing to do with the human psyche. Neglecting how the game fiction and the gameplay (or game rules) come together to create the Psychological work in a game is a common pitfall. Another easy pitfall is to get wrapped up in Psychoanalyzing the developers of the game, or what may be infinitely more embarrassing, accidentally analyzing one’s own psychological state while trying to pass it off as an analysis of the game. Though it is true that the fiction of a game is an important part of any Psychoanalytic analysis, the gameplay is where the most profound sources of material because the interactivity of the game can influence and transform the player in more powerfully subtle ways than a passive medium.

The set of mechanics that do not make up the set of primary mechanics. These mechanics usually aid and help shape the primary mechanic.

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sections (sub-sections)

All games can be broken down into sub-sections or sections. Whether a game is broken down by rooms, loading sections, cut scenes, stages, levels, rounds, or turns, if a game has a mechanic that is repeated, then it can be divided into sections.

Structures are probably the most recognizable feature of videogames. Because structures create the foundation for the game rules and player to learn these rules, analyzing structure develops a clearer insight into how a game works at its core. We're all familiar with the structures of genre. Any gamer can instantly recognize a first person shooter like Halo from a puzzle game like Tetris. Each gaming genre has a certain look to it that is the result of the gameplay structures. Like with any genre, the degree to which the conventions are followed or deviated from varies greatly from game to game. Recognizing a game's structure is an acute way of talking about how a game works in or outside of its genre.

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suspension

In counterpoint, when a game element or game idea is offset form the established pattern of game ideas to create scenarios where the element/idea can carry over and influence other game ideas.

...about Critical-Gaming

We have come to a point where how we talk about video games is insufficient in expressing how we feel and think about them. With each year comes increasingly complex games, yet we are still, for the most part, writing and talking about games on a shallow consumer level.

It is time to start thinking and writing critically about games. However, before we can do this, we must approach gaming from a critical mode or mindset. To do this, we must first understand of how the different parts of a game work together (game design). Unfortunately, many of the who have experience in this area spend their time making video games. Beyond that, the body of knowledge that does exist is scattered at best. For this reason, it is hard for a thorough understanding of game design and critique to become widespread.

I have started this blog in efforts to inform both gamers and non-gamers of the complexities of gaming and how it compares to any other art form (music, literature, movies). Using literary critical theory and music theory as a starting point, I have developed a comprehensive set of critical modes for video game critique. By writing in these critical modes, and by critiquing other video game reviews, I hope to raise our understanding and expectations of video game journalism, critique, and even video games themselves.

We already have a loose idea of what it means to be a core gamer. A casual gamer. And a hardcore gamer. I hope with the right mindset, we can become critical-gamers, who don't shun our fellow gamers for thinking deeply about games but embrace the change we wish to see in the world.